The present invention relates to novel oligonucleotides which contain modified bases and which possess valuable physical, biological and pharmacological properties, to a process for their preparation and to their use as inhibitors of gene expression (antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes, sense oligonucleotides and triplex-forming oligonucleotides), as probes for detecting nucleic acids, as aids in molecular biology and as pharmaceuticals or diagnostic agents.
Numerous chemical modifications of oligonucleotides are known from the literature. These modifications can affect the sugar-phosphate skeleton or the nucleotide bases. Reviews of the state of the art are provided, for example, by Uhlmann & Peyman, Chem. Rev. 1990, 90, 543 and Milligan et al., J. Med. Chem. 1993, 36, 1923.
As a rule, it is necessary to modify oligonucleotides chemically since unmodified oligonucleotides are very rapidly degraded by nucleolytic activities both in cells and in the cell culture medium. Stabilization against nucleolytic degradation can be achieved by replacing the sugar-phosphate backbone or by modifying the phosphate bridge, the sugar moiety or the nucleotide base [Milligan et al., above and Uhlmann & Peyman, above].
In addition to modifications which lead to oligonucleotides which possess increased stability towards nucleolytic degradation, those modifications are also of interest which alter the hybridization behavior of the modified oligonucleotides such that the latter are able, for example, to form more stable hybridization complexes (duplexes) with intracellular nucleic acids (so-called target nucleic acids). It is possible to alter the hybridization properties of oligonucleotides b y, for example, modifying the bases. The altered hybridization properties of oligonucleotides which have been modified i n this way can be recognized, for example, from t he melting temperatures (T.sub.m values) of the duplexes, which temperatures are different from those obtained with the unmodified oligonucleotides.
Thus, oligonucleotides which contain 5-bromouracil, for example, form more stable hybridization complexes with the complementary nucleic acids than do oligonucleotides which contain the corresponding, unsubstituted bases (uracil) [G. D. Fasman, CRC Handbook of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 3rd edition, 1975, Nucleic Acids, Vol. I, 58-585].
In addition, PCT Application WO 93/10820 discloses oligonucleotides which contain modified uracil or cytosine bases and which are able t o form duplex or triplex structures with the target nucleic acids which are more stable than those formed by the unmodified oligonucleotides. Oligonucleotides which contain the base analog 2-aminoadenine have also been reported to exhibit improved hybridization properties [Chollet et al., (1988), Nucleic Acid Research, 16, 305-317]. German Patent Application P4415370.8 discloses that incorporating 8-azapurine bases into oligonucleotides increases the stability of the corresponding hybridization complexes with the target nucleic acids. In addition WO 93/09127 discloses oligonucleotides which contain substituted or unsubstituted 7-deazapurine bases and which, as a result, are more readily able to form triplex structures with the target molecules (double-stranded DNA). Oligonucleotides which contain 7-deazapurine bases which are substituted in the 7 position are also disclosed in WO 94/22892 and WO 94/24144.
However, it is not possible to predict the base modifications which will lead to an increase in duplex stability. Thus, numerous examples are known of base modifications which diminish duplex stability. Thus, PCT Application WO 92/002258 describes pyrimidine-modified oligonucleotides which exhibit decreased binding affinity for the target nucleic acids. Methyl or bromine substituents which are introduced at the 8 position of the purine ring also decrease the stability of the corresponding duplexes [E. N. Kanaya et al., Biochemistry (1987) 26 7159, and Biochemistry, 1984, 23, 4219]. Oligonucleotides which contain 7-deazaadenine form significantly fewer stable duplexes with complementary oligonucleotides than do oligonucleotides which contain adenine [Seela et al., Nucleic Acid Research (1982) 10, 1389].